April Fools’ Day

Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendaras called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendaras in the Hindu calendarthe new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.

People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish)said to symbolize a youngeasily caught fish and a gullible person.

Historians have also linked April Fools’ Day to festivals such as Hilaria (Latin for “joyful”)which was celebrated in ancient Rome at the end of March by followers of the cult of Cybele. It involved people dressing up in disguises and mocking fellow citizens and even magistrates and was said to be inspired by the Egyptian legend of IsisOsiris and Seth.

There’s also speculation that April Fools’ Day was tied to the vernal equinoxor first day of spring in the Northern Hemispherewhen Mother Nature fooled people with changingunpredictable weather.

April Fools’ Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotlandthe tradition became a two-day eventstarting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo birda symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Daywhich involved pranks played on people’s derrieressuch as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them.

In modern timespeople have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools’ Day hoaxes. Newspapersradio and TV stations and websites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences.

In 1957the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees. In 1985Sports Illustrated writer George Plimpton tricked many readers when he ran a made-up article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour.

In 1992National Public Radio ran a spot with former President Richard Nixon saying he was running for president again—only it was an actornot Nixonand the segment was all an April Fools’ Day prank that caught the country by surprise.

In 1996Taco Bell duped people when the fast-food chain announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1998after Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich. Google notoriously hosts an annual April Fools’ Day prank that has included everything from “telepathic search” to the ability to play Pac Man on Google Maps.

For the average tricksterthere is always the classic April Fools’ Day prank of covering the toilet with plastic wrap or swapping the contents of sugar and salt containers.